A Kiss of Sake, A Shunsui One Shot
by Harumi Kitomi
Summary: Natsumi had grown up with Shunsui and Jushiro. They were her best friends and closest allies. But one thing had always bothered her in the back of her mind... why couldn't she use Bankai like them too? Shunsui X OC


**All reviews, comments and overall opinions are much appreciated!**

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><p><span>Info:<span>

Name: Natsumi Watanabe

Height: 5'3

Appearance: Long brunette hair in a side plait, bangs, short, curvy and large violet eyes.

Personality: Sweet, kind, respectful, daydreamer, curious, and honest.

Likes (Optional): Sweets, sake, reading, dancing, and spending time with Jushiro.

Dislikes (Optional): Betrayal, injustice, constant fights and people who don't try.

Best Friend and/or Friend(s): Jushiro, Shunsui, Rangiku, Unohana, Hisagi, and Yumichika.

Worst Enemy and/or Enemy(s): Aizen

Past (Optional): From an aristocrat family and went to the Soul Reaper academy at the same time as Ukitake and Shunsui. She is an only child and has difficulty achieving Bankai which makes her feel weak especially when her two best friends have achieved it.

Race (Example: Human/Arrancar): Soul Reaper

Weapon (Example: Zanpakutou): Yousei Funka (Fairy Eruption)

Crush: Shunsui Kyōraku

Story: A Kiss of Sake

"Jushiro?" I called to my good friend as I took a long sip of sake.

We were sitting at the squad thirteen barracks on the roof, just above his study.

"Yeah? What is it Natsumi?" He answered as he brushed his long white locks away from his face just as the gust of wind that was passing by dyed down.

I swallowed hard and my spit almost got caught in my throat.

"Do you... think I'm... a failure?"I asked in a low tone as I felt hot tears roll down my cheeks.

Maybe drinking my third jug of sake had finally gotten to me, or maybe it was just because I had been dreading on the fact I couldn't use Bankai for so long, but whatever the reason, I just had to know... Was I a failure?

"No! Of course not Natsumi! Why in the world would I think that?" Jushiro slung an arm around my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me and put on a concerned face.

I sniffled and dried my new fallen tears with the sleeve of my soul reaper uniform and then took a long gulp of sake from my sake jug.

"It's just... You know how hard I have been practicing to achieve Bankai. I figured I would have reached it by now. It's been a hundred and forty six years since I was inducted into the thirteen court guard squads, and I still haven't even mastered Bankai yet! I mean, how pathetic am I?"I sighed feeling pitiful and took yet another swig of sake.

"Hey now, don't feel bad Natsumi. There aren't many soul reapers who achieve Bankai, let alone totally master it. You just need to relax. It will come to you eventually." He gave me one of his rare hopeful smiles and patted my shoulder, but I pushed him away feeling a burst of fiery anger rush through my veins.

"Oh, so your saying I'm just like all those other soul reapers? The ones who only make a living by just waving their Zanpakutou's around and acting like they're big heroes? And don't you think if it was going to reveal its self, it would have already done it by now? Face is Jushiro! I'm a failure! I'll never be able to do anything right! I'm worthless!" My voice sounded kind of off to me as I lashed out at Jushiro.

I was shouting. I was crying. I was infuriated with rage. I was blocking out any common sense Jushiro was speaking thereafter my shouting. And in that moment I didn't care what I said or did or even who I hurt. All I knew was was that I felt dizzy and I hated myself. I hated myself for not trying hard enough. I hated myself for not being able to make the ranks of Jushiro and Shunsui. My two best friends that I grew up with and they had both become captains and I a lowly third seat in Toshiro Hitsugya's squad. But it seemed that I was not the only one who was hating right at that minute though because in that same minute as the seconds flew by, fate decided to unleash its hate on me and make me slip off the roof and hurtle towards the ground.

I awoke suddenly. I heard voices. They sounded concerned. I groaned as I tried to open my eyes. The light above me stung my pupils. All I could see was blurred shadows that surrounded me. My head was throbbing. I had no sense of where I was or what day it was. I bleakly remembered the sensation of falling before I had blacked out. Then I recalled I had fallen off of Jushiro's roof.

I immediately shot up. I clasped my head with my hands as a continued throbbing pain immersed my brain. I shouldn't have moved so quickly.

"Hey! She's awake!" An excited high pitched voice of a woman rang in my ears.

"Can you tone it down Rangiku?" I sighed as I rubbed my temples trying to make the effects of my new found hangover go away.

"He-he oh Sumi! I'm so glad your awake!" Rangiku spoke in a softer voice and I cringed when she wrapped her arms around me to hug me.

"I told you not to call me Sumi, Rangiku. I really don't like that nickname..." I sighed again but this time I hugged her back.

"Ok Sumi. Whatever you say. Just make sure you rest that hungover head over yours." Rangiku giggled, pulled away and winked at me which made me roll my eyes in annoyance.

I sighed and sunk down back into my bed, happy to know that she was leaving and therefore I could try to rest my pounding head but just as Rangiku started to walk away, Jushiro took her place along with an uneasy smile on his face. I groaned and sat up again.

"Hey there Natsumi. That was a pretty nasty fall. I'm just relieved that your alright besides that hangover you must have. Oh and you can thank Shunsui for that. For saving you I mean." he laughed nervously and started to rub the back of his head with his right hand.

My eyes widened as I looked haphazardly around the room for Shunsui, until I found him. There he was, sitting in the far right corner, his hat tipped so that it covered his face and dark brown ponytail trailing down his back as he playfully sipped a bowl of sake. My head screamed with pain at the thought of drinking sake but my heart screamed with excitement at the thought of Shunsui saving me.

He must have caught me in his arms. He must have held me tight. God, he must have wanted to kiss me. Or I wished he did... It was actually more like god, I wanted to kiss him. It was kind of funny how I woke up one day and realized that I loved that man.

Then I looked over at Jushiro and realized why he was acting all nervous. He was the only one I had ever told that I loved Shunsui, partly because Jushiro was my best friend and partly because I knew he would never have told him that I loved him. Jushiro probably thought I was going to do something crazy like I did on the roof. But fortunately for me I wasn't drunk anymore and the only thing I wanted to do was fall into a long sleep to make the damned hangover go away.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything crazy. I'm sane now, okay?" I gave him a weak smile just as my eyes had left Shunsui.

"Well that's good. Now you get some rest. And I hope you don't plan on drinking sake anytime soon." He winked at me just like Rangiku had and then left my bed side just as I gave him a quick hug goodbye.

After he left the room, it was only Shunsui and I who occupied it. Shunsui didn't move from his seat in the corner, but instead poured himself another bowl of sake and sipped it. Even though my head was begging me to go to sleep and end the hangover's reign of terror, I wanted to at least thank Shunsui for what he had done.

"Hey, Shunsui?" I called over to him, my voice shaking and my heart racking an uncontrollable beat in my chest.

He lifted his hat with one finger and looked over at me. His dark brown eyes made my stomach flutter, or it could have been the hangover. I prayed it was his gaze. I didn't exactly feel like throwing up in front of him.

"Yeah Natsumi, what can I do for you?" He smiled graciously and drank some more sake as he continued to look at me.

I shifted in my bed uncomfortably.

"Well, I just wanted to thank you for saving me is all." I barely whispered my thanks and peered down as I twiddled my thumbs anxiously.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't quite here you." Shunsui spoke as he placed his sake bowl down on the table next to him and traipsed over to me.

My heart rapidly beated faster and my stomach and head felt a million times worse than they had before.

'Please don't puke. Please don't puke.' I begged my stomach.

I was not about to embarrass myself in front of the man I secretly loved.

I sunk down into my bed more, hoping Shunsui wouldn't ask me to repeat myself again. I felt like I was going to die now that he was standing next to me.

"Can you repeat what you said? I couldn't here you from over there." Shunsui politely asked as he smiled at me.

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Why was it so hard to speak to him right now? Any other time I would be able to without a problem. Then again, any other time I was under the influence of sake.

Then a light bulb went off in my head. That's it! I would just drink some Sake and I would be able to give him my thanks with no problem! I grinned as I sat up in my bed and slid out from the other side as I stood up, totally ignoring Shunsui and my pounding headache. I made my way over to his bowl of sake only to find that it was empty. I quickly grabbed the jug next to it only to realize that it too was empty.

I frowned and groaned. Why did the sake have to be all gone? I pouted and then stomped my feet like a three year old. I was angry because now I didn't know what to do.

"Is something wrong?" I turned around to see Shunsui right in front of me with a questioning look on his face.

Instead of avoiding his question I just forgot about my fluttering stomach and my pounding head and my beating heart and I just spoke my mind.

"Yeah. The sake's all gone." I whined and went to go walk back to my bed but Shunsui grabbed a hold of my arm.

I gazed up at him with a shocked face.

"I thought you learned your lesson when you fell off Jushiro's roof." Shunsui laughed and then his face went serious.

"You could have really hurt yourself you know." He spoke to me like I was a child and my face fell into a frown.

"I'm sorry Shunsui. It's not like I meant to fall off the roof or over drink. I just really enjoy the taste of sake." I sighed just before Shunsui lifted my face with a cupped hand and kissed me.

I gasped in utter shock as I felt his warm lips upon mine and he snuck his tongue in my mouth. After a while I let my physical and mental shock subside and just went along with the kiss and let his roam my mouth as I massaged his tongue with mine. He tasted like sake, dry, cool and sweet. This made my head spin and the throbbing headache I had seemed to disappear in that moment, that was until he broke away from the kiss. Then my headache came back.

I breathlessly looked up at him and he breathlessly looked down at me. I was at a loss for words as to what just happened and I felt like I was going to pass out.

"That's why you are a good woman Natsumi." Shunsui spoke in a whispered tone and continued to gaze into my eyes.

"Wait, what?" I questioned him in confusion.

"You know what the essence of sake is. You know what it brings. You don't care how much you drink. So long as you can enjoy it for the moment. That is why you are a good woman. My kind of woman. Natsumi." He grinned at me and I couldn't tell if he was drunk or not.

"Wait. You're kind of woman? Shunsui... are you serious?" My mouth dropped and I couldn't help myself but I blushed at the thought.

"Of course! I mean I love you. You do know that don't you?" he grinned again and I was really beginning to think he was drunk because there was no other way he would say such a thing.

I mean Shunsui love me back? That was just impossible. Or was it? I had to really know.

"Shunsui... Do you really? Do you really love me?" I whispered just so he could barely hear me.

"Yes Natsumi. I Love you. And do you love me back?" he held my hands in his and I turned redder.

"Yes Shunsui. I love you back." He leaned in and kissed my forehead and squeezed my hands.

"Then I am very grateful." he whispered with a smile.

I smiled back and squeezed his hands back too.

"Now you need some rest so go take a nice long nap so we can drink sake together later at my barracks. Sound good?" He asked with a grin on his face.

I just nodded.

"Alright then! Then go get some sleep. Oh and promise me you won't fall off my roof too." He chuckled and then proceeded to walk me over to my bed and tucked me in.

"I promise." I laughed.

"Oh and Shunsui?" I called to him just as he was making his way over to his seat again.

"Yes, what is it love?" He smiled as he leaned in on his seat to listen to me.

"Thanks for saving me." I smiled back at him.

"Anytime, anytime." he waved a hand at me just as he went to pick up his sake bowl.

Just before I closed my eyes, I gazed over at Shunsui one more time before I snuggled into the warm white quilted covers and attempted to go to sleep as my head pounded on. He had picked his bowl back up and pulled a small jug from out of his kimono. Lucky Dog.


End file.
